Carolynue,

Welcome to Ingersoll Case ville - the grass truly is greener over here (unless you gotta to repair that onan - its gonna be pricey).

I just picked up a 444 about a month ago - so im about 3 steps in front of you.

Send me your email and I can point you in the correct direction - njdpo at hotmail dot com

You can also start getting acclimated to the current company at : http://www.ingersolltractors.com/whatsnew.htm

thx - Dave

John,
You have a 1974. The hp is 16. You can download a free parts manual by going to the link below and clicking on the "Illustrated Parts List". Scroll down and find the 446 listings and use your serial number to find the right book for your tractor. Keep in mind that your serial number must come after the lower number mentioned but before the higher one mentioned. If your serial number is lower than the lowest of the numbers, then you need the book that says "XXXXXXXXX or before".

You also need to purchase an Operator's Manual that is correct for your serial number. These can be ordered from any Ingersoll dealer. Use the dealer locator at the Ingersoll site to find one near you.

Case sold this division in 1983 and no longer supports your tractor. However, parts are still readily available through Ingersoll dealers. Used parts can be found on e-Bay. Many parts are generic and can be bought from local suppliers. There are a couple of forums out there that specialize in keeping these tractors running. This is not one of them. LOL

If you Google "case garden tractor forums", you will find them quite easily.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ingersoll

Kompressor, Thanks for the quick information. The seller told me it was a 1980 something model and 20 horsepower engine. (Caveat emptor-Let the buyer beware!!!!!!) As I just explained to njdpo, it wouldn't start yesterday. The starter turned but would not turn the engine over. My son discovered a missing bolt on the starter that made it loose and would not allow the teeth on the starter to mesh with the teeth on the flywheel. After he replaced the bolt (a job that tested his religion) it still wouldn't engage the flywheel. On closer inspection it appears that because of the missing bolt, for no telling how long, the teeth on the starter had worn down, not allowing the it to turn the flywheel. Now, at least, I know the year and horsepower if I have to buy a new/rebuilt starter. The tractor has a tiller behind it and for the two days I was able to get it started it did a great job in the garden. Thanks again for your info. John

The Case GT's are not common in Texas. If your tractor is still "original" then the axles, frame and wheel rims will all be painted Power Red. The hood, fenders, fuel tank and seat pedestal will be painted Desert Sunset which is a yellowy beige colour. The grill will be black, as will the engine. The PTO will engage by sliding a lever vertically in the dash tower. The engine should have oval, pancake mufflers that hang down vertically right in front of the engines heads.

If you have a tiller, then you also have the optional hydraulic PTO for the tiller to plug into. You also have either a sleeve hitch or a true CAT 0 three point hitch with the F-26 sleeve hitch adaptor.

If the tractor had been repowered with a newer 20 hp Onan or Linamar, then there would be decals on it stating so. Check on e-Bay. There are Sellers who offer new starters for these highly popular Onan engines at a very reasonable price. Local auto/electric shops often have bendix drives in stock for them. Thousand upon thousands of Onans were used in RV gensets, Case, Deere, Craftsman and many other brands of tractors over the past thirty years.

The Onan was a premium engine in its day with a very long service life if properly cared for.

Hi again Kompressor, You are absolutely correct about this tractor not being common in Texas. It has become a bit of a conversation piece around here. Even the cows looked up when I unloaded it off the trailer!!!!! The hood is not original but it is painted power red and the rest of the colors are just as you described. The lever on the left of the steering wheel is forward and reverse and high/low range. The lever on the right raises and lowers the 3 point hitch. The tiller has its own lever that rotates the tines forward or reverse. Because there is no weight on the front I did a "wheelie" down a half row of peas before I got the throttle and tiller adjusted. Driving it certainly will take some practice. You surely know your stuff about the 446. Thanks so much for all your info. John

Coincidence - I wonder...

I bought my Ingersoll with a Kohler 14 HP engine, I noticed that while starting starting it - the starter motor sounded like it was screeching - very unnatural sounding...

But not being familiar with the engine I couldn't be sure. After about a week of tinkering with the tractor I started to notice the engine was not turning over and finally pulled the starter motor and detected that the nut had come off the starter shaft and left me stranded. (in the driveway - no big deal). I could see some minor damage to the worm screw on the starter shaft - but it wasnt completely wasted.

I was able to dig up a nut to get it going again but was wondering of that should be a lock nut on instead ? And was also wondering if this is a common event on the onans and kohlers (i would doubt it ). I would assume the starter motor is NOT the same unit ?

Thx - Dave

John,
You are quite fortunate to find a tractor with a three-point hitch and PTO on it. The three-point is a very desirable option. Too bad about the hood not being original because your tractor came with headlamps that had glass lenses in them and those are highly sought after because they are not available any longer. I would guess that this donor hood has a bump out on the front left side because Power Red hoods were used after the muffler was put under the hood and the bump out was there for the tailpipe to exit.

Case HIGHLY recommended the optional weight kit for the front of the tractors whenever using the tiller. If you are handy, you can make your own front weight. There are several ways to go about it. Making use of old cast iron barbell weights is one way. You can either buy an old mule bracket from a parted out mowing deck (same bracket that clips your deck onto the front of the tractor) off of e-bay for a few bucks and then weld a piece of the barbell rod onto it (re-inforce it) so you can slide the weights on and use the barbell retainer to hold them in place.

The Case front weight used four of the stock cast iron wheel weights (30 lbs each) for a total of 120 pounds on the front. Case also recommended using tire chains if you do not have Ag bar tread rubber on the rear.

And lastly, there was an optional Speed Control Valve (SCV) that mounted on the right side of the dash tower and it gave finite control over the forward speed of the tractor while tilling.

Hi Range is used mostly for travelling and very light work. Lo Range is the one you should be in for most work. Since you likely have no service history on this tractor, you would be well advised to do the following.

- change the oil in the trans-axle. There is a drain plug for this purpose and a fill plug in the middle of your PTO to put oil back in. Keep your eyes open for signs of water in the oil. It should look like oil when it comes out, not some greyish slime. If you get greyish slime, then allow it all to drain out and put the drain plug back in. Put three quarts of diesel fuel into the transaxle and drive the tractor around for a half hour or so before draining all of that out.

You may have to repeat that a second time to get all the crap out. Once you're satisfied that it's clean in there, then fill the trans-axle until oil starts coming back out the fill plug. Use any decent quality 20W50 MOTOR OIL.

- next, you need to change out the hydraulic fluid. Since you have a PTO, the easiest way to do this is to remove the quick coupler from the hose that is attached to the PTO valve. Stick that hose into a clean five gallon bucket. Remove the spark plugs from the engine. Push the PTO valve to one of the positions other than the middle one. Use the ignition key to spin the engine over to see if oil is spurting out of the hose. If it isn't, then stop. Pull the PTO handle to the opposite extreme and spin the engine again. You should now be getting oil from that hose. Keep spinning until the oil flow stops.

Put the coupler back on the hose. Refill the reservoir under the hood (red tank) with the same decent quality 20W50 MOTOR OIL. Do not use any other type of oil in the hydraulic system other than 20W50 or 15W40 motor oil. Put the spark plugs back in, start the engine and drive it around. Check the oil level. It should be 1 1/2" below the top of the tank.

Lastly, change the engine oil after allowing the engine to reach operating temp. In above freezing conditions, use ONLY straight 30 weight oil. Do not use any multi-grades. Change your oil EVERY 25 hours of use. You can buy an inexpensive hourmeter to help you keep track. Places such as Harbor Freight have them. Just find a good ground for the negative lead and run the other wire to the Positive lead on the ignition coil. Find a spot under the hood to mount the meter.

Always check your engine oil before using the tractor. Do not allow the level to drop below the low oil line on the stick. Change the hydraulic oil every second year. It's cheap insurance to protect an expensive pump and an even more expensive drive motor.

If you have not found a source to buy the Operator's Manual, then post here. You need to put a grease gun to this tractor and the manual shows you where.

hi just have been given a case 446 it is all red had an onan on it now has a b/s twin cyl unkwon hp no mower deck no 3 point hitch needs a lot of work but no problem my question is how does the hitch mount does it need its own cyl or does it hook up to the front cyl some how can build my own hitch but i have yet to see one were can i find a break down of one or is ther some pics can you help thanks

The Case three point is an option on all the GT's they sold so when it wasn't included as part of a new tractor ordered from the factory, it was sold as a kit to be installed by the dealer or the owner.

The hitch has its own hydraulic cylinder and came with a pair of hoses and Tee fittings. To install this kit, you removed the little triangle shaped tow plate on the transaxle along with the two bolts you see on the top of the trans-axle just behind the seat support. Once those two bolts are holding the hitch in place, the triangle tow plate gets re-installed and all bolts are tightened.

The two hoses go to where the implement lift cylinder's lines hook to the implement lift spool. Those lines get removed to allow the two Tee fittings to be installed. Then you just put the hoses from the bottom of each cylinder to one Tee fitting and the hoses from the top of each cylinder to the other Tee fitting. Making note as to which is which when you disconnect the implement cylinder will ensure that you get it right.

In late 1983, Case sold its Outdoor Power Equipment Division to John Ingersoll and the name got changed. Today, the Eastman corporation owns the line and still produces the same high quality units. I have included a link to their site. When you get there, click on "Illustrated Parts List". Scroll down the list and find the 446 models. Use the serial number of your tractor to pinpoint the correct parts book.

You can print or download it for free. Near the back of the book, you will see a pictorial of the three point.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ingersoll

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